Jessjahart’s Weblog
It’s Jess’ blog!!Archive for March, 2008
Orlando Sentinel vs. the Virginia Pilot
My initial response to both news sites was that the Virginia Pilot is most visually appealing and the Orlando Sentinel is most dull and less colorful.
When you first enter the website it is plain like most news sites seem to be, but then when you click on the “media, entertainment or video” tab, you will find much more interesting and high tech videos to watch.
The Orlando Sentinel had on its video page, a huge screen where you could watch short or long clips of several news stories. This section was very easy to follow in a sense that there were tabs listed with cateogories such as: Top video, News, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Weather. There were lots of pages of videos listed for the audience to view and I felt like this was a more extensive video selection than most news sites I have visited!! I was pretty impressed with the layout and selection of the videos present in the Orlando. The quality of the videos were also impressive.
I did however also like how Virginia Pilot had flashy videos to play that switched to different stories while you were viewing the front page! And then when you click on “Video” it directs you to a video screen. The video player is small but clear and there are many cateogories to choose from under the video player such as: New, Entertainment, local life, News, Viewer video, Traffic cams, local experts, autos, career, real estate. And you can type in a search in the search engine and look for videos within the last 90 days. I was very impressed with this use of media!
Overall, I would have to say that these two have been the best of the new sites in terms of video media. Both sites have a clear video player, sound quality sounded great, and selection was large and relevant to what the audience wants to see! Aside from the video’s The Orlando Sentinel was also impressive in their multimedia section in that there were gallaries, slideshows, photos, historical videos, and there were images of Florida and places around the world that were updated throughout the day. So I guess I would have to say that I most enjoyed the Orlando Sentinel for its variety it offered.
Providing opporunities overseas with technology
There is currently a gap between people who enjoy the benefits of technology and those whose lives could be significantly improved by it. Inveneo, a non-profit organization believes that access to communications has the ability to save lives.
In order for people in underdeveloped countries to advance with faster services and more opportunities, they need a stronger connection to the outside world. It will take the rich countries who are already experiencing the benefits of technology to do something major in helping those who do not have this luxury. Inveneo, a non-profit organization that was developed in 2004, is doing just this. Inveneo’s goal is to send out tools for Information Communication Technology to people in organizations worldwide who can benefit from this advancement. They identify, recruit, train and certify ICT partners to help lead and maintain their projects in foreign countries and Inveneo leaves the revenue in these rural areas for the citizen’s benefit. “Since mid-2006, when Inveneo released its first product, Inveneo and our partners have supplied gear to or completed more than 45 projects in Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Mali” (1). Inveneo is making it a point to use a dependable product and service without punishing the environment; keeping things natural, safe, and inexpensive for the people in these poor rural areas.
Although I understand that there is controversy with companies like Inveneo going into foreign countries and introducing their technological practices onto them; at the same time, I understand and approve more, the benefits of this service. Many countries, especially the younger generations that have a long road ahead, want to become involved in the new technology that the western cultures like America find to be a number one gain in society. In order to become involved, it typically takes higher earnings to be able to afford a computer and its service provider. With Inveneo, people are able to experience technology first hand in their current conditions. While navigating Inveneo’s website, it appears that those cultures taking on these computer projects and labs, etc. seem to greatly enjoy the opportunity that has come knocking at their door!
Having computer access in poor rural areas Worldwide is beneficial in more ways than just one. It goes beyond the surface of just surfing the net, e-mail and chat. With the improvement in technology, people are now able to educate themselves, which in turn will advance them in their future opportunities. Some remarkable key issues that Inveneo focuses on are: helping save lives (rural healthcare and relief), providing better economic opportunities in agriculture and market access, helping enforce human rights by making it more able to monitor and report cases, offering a better future for children through education. Also, open source software can be viewed by everyone without the expensive software license issues. “Each of the Inveneo Communications System’s components low-power design make them cost effective to deploy using solar or other types of alternate power with battery back-up (e.g., wind, partial grid, micro-hydro, etc.)” (1). Saving money through this cost-effective method will enable people in underdeveloped countries to focus more on furthering themselves through this new window of opportunities.
With a computer people are able to make sense of the world and stay connected. It makes it possible for people to design a resume, apply for jobs, contact businesses, trade with business, make faster transactions when ordering products or banking, get an education online, consult articles and online information for medical cures, or find answers to any dilemmas in their life. I think it is healthy to give every individual who is suffering from lack of income or resources a computer. Through organizations like Inveneo, the individual can advance his or her own knowledge and continue to share this knowledge with others.
(n/a) http://www.inveneo.org/ (2007) Inveneo
Pittsburgh Post Gazzette and The Star Ledger (NJ).
I chose to analyze both Pittsburgh Post Gazzette and the Star Ledger (NJ). I am comparing and contrasting the two and making note as to why I did not like either of them too much. Both were VERY plain and dull. Lack of color, especially on the main page where I feel that it matters most!
My initial response to both sites where that Pittsburgh Post Gazzette is mpre presentable. I liked the latest local news coveraged up top where you can scroll down to exactly what you want to view. There is only one picture on the front page and pretty much no color other than that on the page except for the weather. I was impressed with the multimedia section that Pittsburgh had; they had a large index of articles, especially sports. I was surprised when I saw that they had podcasts as an option because very few had that option. Overall, a dull site, but great multimedia with podcasts.
The Star Ledger, looks as though I was re-directed to a false advertising site. You have to put your zip code, birthdate and gender in before you can even be fully directed to the correct site, which discouraged me from even continuing on to the site. I was shocked that this was a website for a newspaper, like the Pittsburgh paper, it was very unprofessional. I did however, enjoy the many photos with color on the page under entertainment. I also thought that this was a great social site with forums and blogs. I will have to say that I did like this site better out of the two. I did not see any podcasts, but their multimedia section was also extensive. Overall, both newsites were okay and after this being my second blog on newsites, I am beginning to wonder if newsites are not allowed to have color and spunk and must keep in plain and simple?
Voice over Internet Protocol
How do you expect VoIP to impact cable and telephone networks (both are regulated infrastructure industries) ?
After reading the Introduction to How VoIP Works by Robert Valdes I was greatly informed about this current technological advancement in using the internet to make phone calls for free. I feel that this would definitely hurt both cable and telephone companies because they would not be needed as much in our everyday lives. Having the telephone through the internet would cut out some of the cable and telephone companies business, especially when it free of charge through an alternative method. This will lead to a more competitive environment and for the landline based companies to remain in business they would have to either significanlty lower their prices or enhance their services in such a way that it appealed more to their audience. Lower prices and better service is what people want and I think that is what is happening through this new voice over internet. Although I do think it will impact these companies, not everyone is going to want to only have internet phone conversations. Some people find it more pleasing and comfortable to have access to an actual telephone. Some even like the sound quality of a landline; something that they are used to.
Furthermore, the article states that there are disadvantages to VoIP. What happens when there is an emergency and you need to call 911 immediately on the spot? ”There’s no way to associate a geographic location with an IP address. So if the caller can’t tell the 911 operator where he is located, then there’s no way to know which call center to route the emergency call to and which EMS should respond”(Valdes 1). This would be my main concern, I do understand that many people have regular cell phones now and could use this to make an emergency call; however, there will always be a minority of individuals in society that are not technologically advanced and choose not to be and enjoy living the old way through a landline telephone and that is it. With cell phones and the internet combined, the individual making calls will still be charged a monthly service fee. Although it will be beneficial to have a less expensive way to communicate across paths (long distance), I do believe that the reliability of making phone calls through the internet will not measure up to the oldschool landline telephone.
Questions:
Do you think eventually it will get to a point where we only have cell phones and the internet to make phone conversations?
What about sound quality? Will the sound quality be the same if we are going through an Ip address on the internet?
Universal Access to the Internet
What is the relationship between universal access and
economic/political/cultural freedom? In other words, how might they be
different without having universal access to the internet?
It may be different for those having no access to the internet because from an American stand point we can say that those without the net are getting left behind. In America we have had the internet for about ten years or more now making it easy to obtain information worldwide and understand what is happening all around us. I believe that having universal access to the internet is a necessity and Michael L. in his essay The Wireless Revolution and Univeral Access discusses ways in which we can make the internet accessibile to people in impovershed countries. He has several methods that I agree with in terms of attempts to get WiFi in other countries such as India. I was impressed with VAN (village area netwrok) making it easy for people in village areas to stay connected to the world.
Currently there is a digital divide between those who have computers and those who do not. Having this divide can make it more difficult to achieve political, economical and cultural freedom. Rich schools in the 1990′s were able to provide students with the internet. Also, countries with a wide availability of internet access can advance the economics of that country on a local and global scale. Now days, in America, jobs and education are both related to the internet (wikipedia).
Although there is a digital divide between people in this world, I do believe that there is a lot of research and programs out there that are providing help in underdeveloped countries to bridge this gap. In his article. Michael discusses how because of more research and acheivable programs through non-profit driven small-entreprenerial operators, univeral access is coming to exist more rapidly at a smaller cost to those in need. One lap top per child is a key example of a program trying to help close the gap of digital divide. Other organizations that I researched that are also trying to overcome this gap are: Geekcorps, EduVision, and Inveneo.
In the end, I couldn’t help but ask myself, is it so bad to be digitally unconnected. Is this really a problem? Maybe what you don’t know can’t hurt. What if people in third world countires like to be diconnected form the world and live in their own little bubble of life. Maybe families and friends like to just simply work on a farm, coffee shop, restaurant, market, etc. Maybe they do not want stimulation form rich countires outside of their own!
Questions:
Do you think it truly is an issue that technology is not available in all countries or should we be making this a concern?
Do you think it ever occurred to anyone that maybe underdevoloped countries may enjoy living the slow pace lifestlye and do not need technology to get by and may not want to progress rapidly into the future?
Discussion leader blog post
I chose an artile on ProQuest titled “Online is great, but physical is powerful ” from the Bismarck Tribune. This article talked about the pros and cons of both online commerce and “real world commerce” (store shopping, trading). This was an overall great article that got me to think about both sides of the spectrum because before I did my research I thought that online shopping, trading and banking was the only way to go!!
“In real world commerce, product verification and problem resolution is quick. You drive to a store to buy an item. You bring it home, try it out. If it doesn’t work or it’s not what you expected, you can drive back to the store for a replacement or refund, a turnaround process usually measured in hours”(2007, 1).
“In online commerce product verification and problem resolution is slower – there are several days shipping time between when you buy an item and its arrival. If the item doesn’t work or isn’t what you expected, you have to pack up the item and ship it back to the business for a replacement (more shipping days) or a refund”(2007, 1).
(n.a). Bismarck Tribune. (2007, Dec 10). Online is great, but physical is powerful. Retrieved Feb. 27, 2008 from http://proquest.umi.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/pqdweb?did=1396104501&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=2302&RQT=309&VName=PQD
